BREAKING: Judge Blocks Enforcement of Alabama Immigration Law

According to the Associated Press, Judge Blackburn — the federal judge presiding over Department of Justice vs. Alabama — has blocked enforcement of the Alabama’s notorious anti-immigrant law. From the article:

A federal judge temporarily blocked enforcement of Alabama’s new law cracking down on illegal immigration, ruling Monday that she needed more time to decide whether the law opposed by the Obama administration, church leaders and immigrant-rights groups is constitutional.

The brief order by U.S. District Judge Sharon L. Blackburn means the law won’t take effect as scheduled on Thursday. The ruling was cheered by opponents who have compared the law to old Jim Crow-era statutes against racial integration.

But Blackburn didn’t address whether the law is constitutional, and she could still let all or parts of the law take effect later. The judge said she will issue a longer ruling by Sept. 28.

Alabama’s monster of an immigration bill, HB 56, bars undocumented immigrants from enrolling in any public college after high school. It forces parents to report the immigration status of their children to public schools, so that the schools can keep legal status records of all their students and document the costs of educating undocumented children. Among other things, the law even criminalizes police officers who do not do enough to persecute immigrants.